We adopted Dillion from the MidSouth Shepherd rescue 3 years ago.
As a puppy we were told that he was in the hospital until he was 8 months old. His owner could not afford his medical cost, leaving him at the animal hospital.
He was then given to the midsouth Shepherd Rescue, a shelter for shepherds with no family. They take care of them until they find a home.

Well, we found Dillion. He was about 9 months old. He was a little skittish but a very sweet boy.
It always seemed a little off. We knew it was from living in a cage for the first 8 months of his life and being sick. I was really uneducated at the time about canine diseases so I never thought to ask the shelter what he was sick with! Now, I just can’t believe that I didn’t have enough sense to ask. That’s beside the point. I would have still adopted Dillion. Someone has to take care of him. And I’m glad it is us. I wouldn’t trade him for the world.
Like I said Dillion was fine except acting alittle off at times.

After about a year and a half we started noticing one day that he was throwing up a lot (it was green and foamy) We didn’t think much about it. Days went by and he just got worse. I’ve always had healthy animals so I didn’t think much about it. Until… he started running into the walls, he couldn’t control his jaws. It was bad and so sad. We rushed him to the animal hospital and they told us that it seems as if he had been poisoned. They were ready to put him to sleep. I said no way. He’s a fighter! They put him on an iv drip to hydrate him. Two days went by and he was still hanging on put totally gone inside his mind. He couldn’t walk or look at me. On the 3rd day the vet told me that he would not come back and we need to talk about other options.

We planned to give him one more night and I was to back to the hospital the next morning… to make the decision.
I cried all night and PRAYED.
The next morning arrived and I remember driving to the hospital in tears. I was devestated. I was so upset with myself for letting him get this bad. If I had just noticed the signs and took him in sooner.

I got to the hospital and the vet came in and the first thing she said was… ” I don’t want to get your hopes up but it seems that a miracle had happened over night, Dillion is moving and seems to be coming back to us!” I was already so devestated, I didnt’ know what to think. It was a miracle. 2 days later we were walking out of the hospital!! Dillion was on his way back home. I couldn’t beleive it. It was a miracle!!!!

In the mean time, as Dillion was getting back to his old self… jumping 10 feet in the air to get a bone! I called the lady from the midsouth shepherd rescue to ask what kind of illness Dillion had had as a puppy and she told me he had distemper!

We had been blaming our neighbors all this time. We thought he had been poisoned. All the symptoms he had shown were that of distemper
Dillion has been fine ever since that relapse. IT’s now been about 1 1/2.
B
ut… this last MOnday (aug 08) he started showing signs of it again. We immediatley noticed the symptoms and rushed him to the hospital. Right now the only symptoms he is having is: he seems really week- walks side ways and he’s back to chomping (like he’s chewing gum, he has no energy; he’s usually running and playing and jumping. But now he’s just laying around. The doctor gave me 3 types of medicine. 2 antibiotics and a steroid. All the symptoms are neurological so the steroids will help the swelling of the brain.

We are again praying that we have caught it in time and that it will go away. The first time left him blind in his right eye. Another symptom of this awful disease. But we still have Dillion, the vet says most puppies or adults don’t make it through. Because of the lord, he had pulled through twice. Please pray that he will again pull through and the lord will give him the strength to fight this off again.

Hopefully, this will give you some details of distemper and if you ever adopt an animal from a shelter make sure you ask the right questions.